The good
- Infinity Ward responded quickly with a substantial first gameplay update after gathering feedback and in-game data from the beta’s opening period. The studio said it will continue issuing daily updates, fixes, and adjustments through the next beta weekend.
- Enemy footsteps and gear audio were reduced in both volume and audible range. This directly answers player feedback that opponents could be heard too easily from too far away, making stealthy movement difficult.
- The ISO Nightshade SMG and Oris 8.6 marksman rifle received lethality adjustments, including reduced damage ranges and headshot multipliers. These changes were made in response to early time-to-kill and weapon-balance concerns.
- Map voting is now enabled after the addition of the Cachette map brought the beta’s available map pool to four.
- Transit 213 received visibility work: darker sections were brightened and the overall color balance was adjusted to make enemy visibility clearer.
- Cachette and the Inflation mode were added to the beta rotation, expanding the available content during the Early Access period.
- The team also reduced the secondary echo effect from Artillery Beacon explosions to improve audio clarity.
- The beta launched as a standalone download rather than being bundled into the larger Call of Duty HQ launcher. Activision also said it was reducing how often players would encounter the long-standing “update requires restart” prompt, although some platform-specific restart behavior remains during the beta.
Problems that have been fixed
The latest patch addressed a broad group of technical, UI, and gameplay problems:
- An out-of-bounds exploit on Cachette was fixed.
- An issue that caused lobby music to continue into matches was fixed.
- Repeating Gunny unlock notifications and incorrect Operator-icon behavior in the Social bar were addressed.
- Best Play clips should no longer be selected when the featured player died before the clip ended.
- Incorrect attachment “Cons” information for the Kastov 762 Cronen Zero-K and Bruen Clash-40 optics was fixed.
- Players should now be able to properly start and complete the Mobility Course.
- Footsteps should no longer incorrectly use wet-surface sounds while players move on dry surfaces.
- The update resolved some Seeker Drone-related disconnects, controller-switching and controller-reconnection errors, front-end navigation issues, and an error that could occur when entering Gunsmith without a valid weapon selected.
- Certain magnified optics that could become opaque while aiming down sights were fixed, along with a rare Gunfight 10v10 disconnect issue.
- Infinity Ward fixed an issue that prevented XBOX PC Vault Edition owners from equipping their Vault Edition unlocks.
- The studio also addressed frame-rate drops associated with readying a Flash Grenade and made a fix for blood effects remaining on-screen longer than intended.
What still needs work
Some of the beta’s more disruptive problems are still listed as known issues or are actively being investigated:
| Issue | Current status |
|---|---|
| Kill Block join-in-progress | Temporarily disabled because of a round-transition bug; Infinity Ward says it is working on a fix. |
| Frame-rate drops from throwable equipment | Cooking certain lethal equipment can still cause FPS drops; the studio is investigating. A separate Flash Grenade-related FPS issue has already been fixed. |
| PC hitching | Players may experience a hitch during their first match. Recording software such as NVIDIA ShadowPlay can also cause hitching on some PCs. |
| ADS performance | Quick Draw attachments may cause a frame-rate drop while aiming down sights. |
| Interface issues | The loadout-selection screen may remain visible after a match starts. Joining a party can lead to a “Press A to Start” screen or a black screen when opening Quick Nav. |
| Visual and animation issues | Some 4x optics may display incorrectly while ADS, and spectating slide-to-sprint transitions can show animation timing discrepancies. |
| Secure Attestation on PC | Infinity Ward is working to improve the Secure Attestation Wizard used to diagnose and resolve beta-access issues. |
What to expect next
- The Early Access Beta ends at 10:00 AM PT today, August 25.
- The Open Beta begins at 10:00 AM PT on Friday, August 28, and ends September 1. It will be open to players on XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, PlayStation 5, Steam, Battle.net, and Nintendo Switch 2.
- Infinity Ward has asked players to continue submitting feedback with their platform, match ID, and screenshots or video where possible. The studio is using that feedback alongside in-game telemetry to guide additional balancing and bug-fix updates.
- The official Modern Warfare 4 Trello board is the live source for newly identified issues and status changes as the beta continues.
